Crag’s Crest Trail

While staying in Grand Junction, we took the opportunity to drive up to the Grand Mesa National Forest and hike a national recreation trail, Crag’s Crest. We left our airbnb at 7 a.m., taking Interstate 70 east and then climbed steeply up CO-65 North for 33 miles. On the way, we stopped to let three big horn sheep cross the road directly in front of us.

We started hiking at about 8:15 am. There was only one other car in the parking lot. The temperature was 33 degrees F., and there was a heavy overnight frost. Fall colors were just about peak.

Our first wildlife sighting was a grouse just off the trail.

The trail immediately started uphill. The views were amazing.

After about three miles, we found ourselves on a narrow exposed ridge. This was the most spectacular part of the hike. 

At one point, the trail thinned to one small rock to step on to get to the next part of the trail. Steep drop offs fell to either side. If I was a better blogger, I would have taken a photo here, but I was honestly so glad to get past that sketchy path forward that I was holding my breath and didn’t look back.

After a couple of miles of exposed ridge, the trail dropped below to some beautiful lakes.

The last five miles was a bit of a slog with a mixture of dry meadow and rocky trail through the trees. Callie found some excitement in nearby deer.

This was a loop hike and just over 11 miles with an elevation gain of 1548 feet. We topped out at a little over 11,000 feet.  Completion called for a well deserved cold beverage at Trail Life brewery in downtown Grand Junction.